Nate Barksdale

The origins of ice cream, sorbet and other chilled dairy treats are difficult to pin down—but span back to antiquity.

The term democracy, which means “rule by the people,” was coined by the Greeks of ancient Athens to describe their city-state’s system of self-rule, which reached its golden age around 430 B.C. under the skilled orator and politician Pericles. It is probable that the Athenians were not the first group of people to adopt such […]

Check out seven surprising facts about the dynasty that made China a global power.

Check out fascinating facts about the most famous and influential African American of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

The longest river in the world, measured from its mouth to its most distant, year-round source, is likely the Amazon, which flows 4,345 miles from the Peruvian Andes through Brazil to the Atlantic Ocean. However, much depends on how you measure it. Until 2007, the title belonged to the Nile, which runs 4,258 miles from […]

An ancient city that manages to stay inhabited—and important—over thousands of years is a surprisingly rare occurrence. Here are six of the most fascinating examples.

Whether revered as a divine symbol of luck and wisdom, used as unique tools of diplomacy between leaders, deployed to intimidate opposing armies or put on display in the service of status or science, elephants have loomed large in the historical record.

It's not always possible to separate fact and fiction about the famed ancient Macedonian ruler, but here are eight great takeaways from Alexander’s life.

California's In-N-Out Burger brought drive-thru dining to the mainstream—and Americans haven't looked back since.

It’s hard to imagine an American Thanksgiving table without the ubiquitous orange-crusted custard made from strained, spiced and twice-cooked squash.

Christmas Pudding (also known as plum pudding or figgy pudding) is a dish as famous as it is misunderstood.

Behind the jolly, red-suited, shopping mall Santa of today lies a real person—St. Nicholas of Myra, a Christian monk who lived in the third century A.D., in what is now Turkey.

Coffee's importance can be traced across the centuries through the names we’ve come to know it by.

Six fascinating facts about the Great Charter's story and its significance.

Check out some fascinating facts about the Serbian-American physicist and engineer.

The idea of an unhinged monarch has inspired fascination—and controversy—for as long as there have been human rulers.

A monarch of outsized proportions, passions and appetites, King Henry VIII (1491-1547) ruled England for 36 years.

The first modern flushable toilet was described in 1596 by a godson of Queen Elizabeth I.

Few symbols better captured the Cold War divide between western Europe and the Soviet bloc than the Berlin Wall, a concrete and barbed wire barrier that divided Germany’s largest city for nearly 30 years. As World War II wound to a close, Germany and Berlin were divided into four zones, each administered by one of […]

Though far less famous than later non-human astronauts, the first animals in space were a group of fruit flies, launched to an altitude of 42 miles at the tip of a V-2 rocket, developed and used by the Germans during World War II and later by American military scientists on February 20, 1947. The flies, […]

If you’re a scientist, a student or a citizen of any country in the world except for the United States, Myanmar or Liberia, there’s no avoiding the metric system. The system, featuring meters, liters and kilograms, was adopted following the French Revolution and devised by a group of French scientists in an effort to create […]

In the 18th century, the French government hosted a competition to find a better means of food preservation. The winning invention changed how the world ate.

The sandwich's roots trace back to ancient times, but it took on its modern form in the United States.

Marie Curie was the first and most famous, but there were other early trailblazers.